This blog post incorporates research conducted for the digital exhibition, “Wild Mouser to Household Pet: A History of Cats in Science and Society, 1858 to 1922.” Click here to check out the exhibition and book collection!

Dielman, Frederick. “Uncle Tobey and the widow.” Library of Congress Prints & Photographs. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016652317/.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the United States and Europe, cats were just beginning to be seen as household pets. Previously, they were viewed as biological specimens for medical study, muses for literature, and mousers that roamed around killing rodents. The way that people saw cats often involved a comparison with dogs. But how different are these two species? How did people perceive of those differences and similarities in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries?

Usefulness

Gos., De Voogt. Our Domestic Animals: Their Habits, Intelligence, and Usefulness (1907). Digitized by the Library of Congress.

Authors compared cats and dogs in order to claim their favorite as superior. For example, in Domesticated Animals, Their Relation to Man and His Advancement in Civilization (1895), Nathaniel Southgate Shaler wrote:

Cats deserve some mention for the reason, that, while they are the least essential, and on the whole the least interesting, of domesticated animals, they have had a certain place in civilization. They afford, moreover, a capital foil by which to set off the virtues of the dog [1].

Clearly, Shaler is fond of dogs. He highlights one of the starkest differences between cats and dogs: their usefulness. While dogs were domesticated by humans to perform a variety of tasks such as hunting, cats never had much of a purpose beyond “mousing” (catching rodents, especially on farms with grain storages). This limited purpose led to less variation in cat breeding. However, cat enthusiasts still did breed and exhibit purebred cats.

Huidekoper, Rush Shippen. The Cat: A Guide to the Classification and Varieties of Cats and a Short Treatise Upon Their Care, Diseases, and Treatment (1895). Digitized by the Library of Congress.

Mrs. A. McAllister and Smoke Persian Cat, Bain news Service Publisher, ca.1910-1915. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/ggb2005018109/.

Intelligence

Another point of dissention between cat and dog fans was which was more intelligent. Most believed that dogs were smarter. Author Dorothy Champion sums up the common beliefs and her take:

How often one hears the remark, ‘How stupid cats are!’ or, ‘Cats cannot compare with dogs for cleverness.’ This is a point on which many people make a great mistake… I have come to the conclusion that an uneducated cat has far more brains than an uneducated dog. Doubtless the dog is easier to teach, as he can be made to do things, whereas the cat is of an independent disposition [2].

Those trying to counter the belief that dogs were smarter had to fiercely defend the intellect of the cat and provide examples to bolster their claim. A common way to do so was to cite their ability to remember how to get from one location to another, even across long distances. However this ability was also turned into a fault, with some authors claiming that cats are more attached to locations than they are to people.

Biggle, Jacob. Biggle Pet Book: A Collection of Information for Old and Young Whose Natural Instincts Teach Them to be Kind to All Living Creatures (1900). Digitized by the Library of Congress.

Domestication

Another element of comparison between cats and dogs was the extent of their domestication. There are a few ways to approach this topic. One way is to go back and study their original shift from wild to domesticate. New scientific studies using ancient DNA are uncovering clues about the origins of this shift [3]. While the exact details are debated, everyone agrees that cats were domesticated more recently than dogs. In fact, twentieth century authors questioned whether or not cats really have been domesticated at all:

He never was but half-domesticated at best, and while he is a universal favorite with children because of his furry coat and look of seeming intelligence, he is yet essentially a wild animal, almost incapable of true domestication. He has lost little of his innate savagery, and as a relentless foe of birds he has really become an enemy to our civilization[4].

While this account is definitely one of the more severe critiques of cats, the sentiment that cats remained wild and were posing a threat to wildlife was gaining popularity in the beginning of the 1900s.

Another way to approach the topic of domestication has to do with nineteenth century conceptions of domesticity. Cats were believed to have a particular affinity for the home, and became associated with the household, and by extension, women. Conversely, dogs were known to travel outside with their owners, tagging along for masculine activities like hunting.

For more information on the link between cats and women in this time period, see this blog post.

Gos., De Voogt. Our Domestic Animals: Their Habits, Intelligence, and Usefulness (1907). Digitized by the Library of Congress. (Look carefully to see the small kitten curled up beside the large dog).

By comparing their usefulness, intelligence, and domestication, nineteenth and early twentieth century authors debated the merits of cats and dogs in very similar ways that we do today.

Click the links below to access fully digitized volumes of the books mentioned in this post:

• Biggle, Jacob. Biggle Pet Book: A Collection of Information for Old and Young Whose Natural Instincts Teach Them to be Kind to All Living Creatures (1900).
• Champion, Dorothy Bevill. Everybody’s Cat Book (1909).
• Davenport, Eugene. Domesticated Animals and Plants: A Brief Treatise (1910).
• Forbush, Edward Howe. The domestic cat; bird killer, mouser and destroyer of wild life (1916).
• Shaler, Nathaniel Southgate. Domesticated Animals, Their Relation to Man and His Advancement in Civilization (1895).

Frees, Harry Whittier. “A joy-ride” (1914). Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013648296/.

*For more information about domestic cats in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, see the digital exhibition “Wild Mouser to Household Pet: A History of Cats in Science and Society, 1858 to 1922.”

[1] Nathaniel Southgate Shaler. Domesticated Animals, Their Relation to Man and His Advancement in Civilization (1895). Page 50. Emphasis added.
[2] Champion, Dorothy Bevill. Everybody’s Cat Book (1909). Page 13. Emphasis added.
[3] See for example, Ottoni, C. et al. The palaeogenetics of cat dispersal in the ancient world. Nat. Ecol. Evol. 1, 0139 (2017).
[4] Davenport, Eugene. Domesticated Animals and Plants: A Brief Treatise (1910). Page 235. Emphasis added.

This book of the week, an 1889 work entitled, Our Cats and All About Them: Their Varieties, Habits, and Management; and for Show, The Standard of Excellence and Beauty; Described and Pictured by Harrison Weir, F.R.H.S., was written by Harrison Weir, President of the National Cat Club which he formed in 1887. What is equally delightful to Weir’s loving descriptions of cats, their looks and their behavior, are his beautiful illustrations of cats throughout the book. One striking aspect of this book is the fact that Weir’s descriptions of nineteenth-century feelings and issues concerning the cat are so very similar to our own. For instance, the author mentions that people often would ask him how to stop cats from scratching the furniture, or talk about what a wonderful personality their cat had (1), or how ingenioius their cats were for being able to open doors by themselves:

Take for instance, how very many cats will open a latched door by springing up and holding on with one fore-leg while with the other they press down the latch catch, and so open the door; and yet even more observant are they than that…as I have shown by a case…in which a cat opened a door by pulling it towards him, when he found pushing it of no avail.  The cat is more critical in noticing than the dog.  I never knew but one dog that would open a door by moving the fastening without being shown or taught how to do it.  Cats that have done so are numberless. (6-7)

In addition, he points out what many today can observe in their own multi-cat homes, that cats attach themselves to certain members of the family exclusively: “I found that no two [cats] were the ‘followers’ of the same member of my family…Why was this?…I am sorry to say I rapidly came to the conclusion that it was jealousy!” (6).  Weir describes a picturesque scene of cat jealousy in action:

Zeno [the cat] would be very cossetty, loving, lovable, and gentle, but when Lulu [the cat] came in and was nursed he retired to a corner and seized the first opportunity of vanishing through the door.  As soon as Zillah [the cat] jumped on my knee and put her paws about my neck, Lulu looked at me, then at her, then at me, walked to the fire, sat down, looked round, got up, went to the door, cried to go out, the door was opened, and–she fled. (7)

This is a scene very familiar to mulitple cat-owners today.

Weir was an early advocate for the humane treatment of animals, specifically cats, as he passionately said:

Among animals possibly the most perfect, and certainly the most domestic, is the Cat…Long ages of neglect, ill-treatment, and absolute cruelty, with little or no gentleness, kindness, or training, have made the Cat self-reliant; and from this emanates the marvellous powers of observation, the concentration of which has produced a state analogous to reasoning, not unmixed with timidity, caution, wildness, and a retaliative nature…

But should a new order of things arise, and it is nurtured, petted, cosseted, talked to, noticed, and trained, with mellowed firmness and tender gentleness, then in but a few generations much evil that bygone cruelty has stamped into its often wretched existence will disappear… (Preface v-vi)

Weir realized that there were many cat lovers, especially in London, and so decided to hold the first cat show there at the Crystal Palace in 1871 (1-2). Weir, his brother John Jenner Weir, and the Rev. J. Macdona, were judges, and Weir said “the result [of the cat show] was a success far beyond our most sanguine expectations–so much so that I having made it a labour of love of the feline race, and acting without fee, gratuity or reward…It is to be hoped that by these shows the too often despised cat will meet with the attention and kind treatment that every dumb animal should have and ought to receive at the hands of humanity.” (2-5)

While this book is known today as the first cat pedigree book, outlining what an exemplary specimen of each breed of cat should look like and how they should behave, it is a wonderful read simply because it is filled with loving anecdotes about cats, which “are the outcome of over fifty years’ careful, thoughtful, heedful observation, much research, and not unprofitable attention to the facts and fancies of others.  From a tiny child to the present, the love of Nature has been my chief delight” (Preface v).  Take for instance, his inclusion of a story about a mother cat’s love for her kittens:

No animal is more fond and attentive than the cat; she is the most tender and gentle of nurses, watching closely every movement of her young…What can be more sensitively touching than the following anecdote, sent to The Animal World by C. E. N., in 1876?  It is a little poem of every-day life, full of deep feeling and feline love.

“I have a small tabby cat, very comely and graceful. Being very fond of her kitten, she is always uneasy if she loses sight of it if only for a short time.  For the last six weeks, the mother, failing to recall the truant back by her voice, even returns to the kitchen for the lower portion of a rabbit’s fore-leg, which has served as a plaything for some time.  With this in her mouth, she proceeds to search for her lost one, crying all the time, and, putting it down at her feet, repeats her entreaties, to which the kitten, allured by the sight of its plaything, generally responds.  Owing to its gambols in the open air during the inclement weather, the kitten was seized with an affliction of the throat; the mother, puzzled with the prostration of its offspring, brought down the rabbit’s foot to attract attention.  In vain; the kitten died.  Even now the loving mother searches for the rabbit’s foot, and brings it down.” (110-111)

Weir includes many more heartwarming stories about the love and dedication of cats for their kittens and their human masters which are very enjoyable to read–in addition to a lengthy section of amusing “Cat Proverbs” (185-195), “Superstition and Witchcraft” as they relate to cats (195-199), “Weather Notions” as determined by cat behavior (200-201), and famous “Lovers of Cats” (223-227).  Among the “lovers of cats” Weir lists are the “Turks”–“Mahomet was very partial to Cats.  It is related, that being called up on some urgent Business, he preferred cutting off the Sleeve of his Robe, to waking the Cat, that lay upon it asleep” (223), Samuel Pepys (224), Petrach, Cardinal Wolsey, Sir I. Newton (227), Cowper, Gray, Cardinal Richelieu, and Montaigne (227).  You can read more about cat superstitions and folklore at our previous cat post.

With his many beautiful illustrations of different breeds of cats and kittens and his wonderful stories, this is truly Weir’s own “little poem of every-day life, full of deep feeling and feline love,” dedicated to the creatures which gave him such pleasure.

And now for some gratuitous photos of my own two cats, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and their fabulous and unexpected sleeping habits.  Enjoy!

This week is Big Cats Week, and to celebrate we’re featuring a book in our collection that has some of the loveliest engravings of these majestic felines that we’ve ever seen. The book, Engravings of Lions, Tigers, Panthers, Leopards, Dogs, etc. (1853), by Thomas Landseer, contains 39 plates. The first twenty – of lions, tigers, panthers, and leopards – are engravings by Thomas Landseer after original works by Stubbs, Rubens, Spilsbury, Rembrant, Reydinger, and Edwin Landseer.

We hope you enjoy these marvelous works, and for each of the species depicted, we’ve included some interesting facts and links to the animals in EOL, where you can learn even more about them. Be sure to check out Big Cats Week on the National Geographic website, and you can follow the discussion on twitter (BHL account – @BioDivLibrary) with the hashtag #bigcatsweek. And remember, you can see all of the illustrations from this work on our Flickr account.

Lion

• Second largest living cat
• The tallest of all living cats
• Until about 10,000 years ago, the lion was the most widespread mammal after humans, with ranges including Africa, Europe, Asia and even the Americas
• Usually, eight subspecies of lions are recognized
• Lions can be bred with tigers, leopards, and panthers, producing, respectively, ligers, leopons, and jaglions
• The only member of the cat family to display obvious sexual dimorphism (with the manes on males)

Tiger

• The largest of all cat species
• The longest canine teeth among living felids
• Six living recognized subspecies
• The subspecies of tigers are the most varied in size of any cat species. The Siberian, Bengal and Caspian are the largest living felids and some of the largest to ever live. While males of these varieties can weigh between 600-670 pounds, the smallest tiger subspecies, the Sumatran, weighs only 170-310 pounds.
• The South China Tiger subspecies is listed as one of the 10 most critically endangered animals in the world, and indeed may already be extinct in the wild.

Panther (Jaguar or Cougar)

• The panther may refer to the leopard in Africa and Asia, the cougar in North America, or the jaguar in Central and South America.

• The jaguar resembles the leopard physically but is larger
• The jaguar has an exceptionally powerful bite, crushing the skulls of prey to deliver a “death-bite” to the brain
• The mountain lion, cougar, or puma, native to the Americas, has the largest range of any large wild terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere
• The cougar is closer genetically to the domestic cat than true lions

Leopard

• The smallest of the four big cats (lion, tiger, jaguar and leopard)
• It is chiefly found in sub-Saharan Africa, though small populations can be found in Asia
• Both leopards and jaguars that are completely black are known as black panthers
• There are nine recognized subspecies of leopards
• The Amur Leopard, one of the nine subspecies, is considered one of the rarest felids in the world, with only approximately 30-35 individuals in the wild
• The Arabian Leopard is the smallest leopard subspecies
• The Persian Leopard is the largest leopard subspecies

This week for our book of the week, we feature a title that Charles Darwin himself called “one of the great monuments of science in the 19th century.” The book? Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale(1835-47), by Alcide Dessalines d’Orbigny. The work chronicles d’Orbigny’s travels to South America for the Paris Museum from 1826-1833. As a result of this voyage, d’Orbigny returned to Paris with more than 10,000 natural history specimens.

Alcide d’Orbigny was a French naturalist born in 1802 that studied a variety of fields including zoology, paleontology, geology, archaeology, and anthropology. He was born to a ship’s physician and naturalist, which made his choice of occupation a natural one. When his family moved to La Rochelle in 1820, d’Orbigny’s interest in natural history was nourished as he began to study the marine fauna in that area. Shortly thereafter he moved to Paris, where he closely studied the work of Georges Cuvier.

d’Orbigny’s mission to South America included visits to Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru. d’Orbigny described some of the 10,000 specimens he collected in our book of the week, Voyage dans l’Amérique Méridionale, which was published in 90 fascicles. As mentioned, Darwin highly praised the work, and d’Orbigny even named select species after him. For instance, the common name of Rhea pennata is Darwin’s Rhea.

After 1840, d’Orbigny focused his attention on fossils, publishing two important titles on the subject between 1840 and 1850. In 1853, he became a professor of paleontology at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. The position of Chair of Paleontology was created especially for him, and his geological timescales and strata are still used today as chronostratigraphic reference.

For our post, we’re featuring some of the species that d’Orbigny described as a result of his voyage to South America, particularly those contained in v.9 of the title. You can see all of the images from this volume on our Flickr site, and be sure to check out a few of the other volumes from the title that we have in BHL.

Geoffroy’s Cat Leopardus geoffroyi: A wild cat found in Southern and Central South America that is about the size of a domestic house cat. While fairly abundant, issues over land-use changes in its habitat, as well as intense international fur trade in the 1960s-80s, results in this species being listed as “Near Threatened” by the IUCN.

Xantho planus: A crab species of the family Xanthidae, the largest crab family in terms of species richness, with 572 species and 133 genera. Species of Xanthidae are commonly called mud crabs, pebble crabs or rubble crabs. They are poisonous, containing a toxin, similar to that produced by puffer fish, for which there is no antidote and which is not destroyed by cooking.

Porcupine River Stingray Potamotrygon hystrix: This species is found within marshy, freshwater zones of the Paraná-Paraguay River basin. When it remains perfectly immobile, partially covered by sand, and exercising homochromy (a process of protective coloration that allows the animal to blend into its environment), this species is practically undetectable to the eye. Its tail contains 1 or more spines, which are covered in a toxic mucus that inflicts painful wounds.

Blue-banded Toucanet Aulacorhynchus coeruleicinctis – Top Figure: This species of Toucanet lives in Bolivia and Peru. Members of the Toucan family, Toucanets are near-passerine or high land-birds, meaning that they are arboreal birds believed to be related to true passerines. Passerines, which are of the order Passeriformes, include more than half of all bird species, with over 5,000 identified species. This is approximately twice as many species as that contained in the largest mammal order, Rodentia, and, with over 110 families, it has the second most families of any order of vertebrates, after Perciformes (bony fish).